Hi,
am a high school physics student in Boston, Massachussetts at Milton
Academy. We are studying electostatics and I came upon your webpage. I had a
few questions about leyden jars. I was wondering if you could explain how a
charge goes through the leyden jar. For instance, I have been using a charged
electrophorous ( a pieplate) and then touching this plate to the ball atop a
leyden jar. My question concerns the movement of this charge from the
pieplate thoughout the leyden jar and why I get a shock when I touch both the
aluminum foil around the base of the leyden jar, as well as, the knob on top.
And why I do not get a shock when I just touch the nob on top of the leyden
jar while not touching the aluminum foil. Do you know of anyone else who can
help me? Or perhaps know of some diagrams that I could look at? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Pablo M.Ros